1.语文

一年级-上册

2.数学

3.英语

一年级-下册

日语

ドラえもん

英语 自然拼读

Written by Rus Buyok 
Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi

Eva was nervous for the trial to begin. Just
last week, she had watched the mock trial of
Goldilocks as the class decided if Goldilocks was
guilty of trespassing on the three bears’ property. 
It had been fun to see how a court of law worked 
when no one was really getting in trouble— but
this time it was real. Her friend James, who
fidgeted nervously beside her, was accused of
stealing an old train engineer’s hat that Larry
had brought in for show-and-tell. He faced up to
a week’s worth of detention. James insisted that
he was innocent, and she believed him. It was her
job to get everyone else to believe him, too.

“Class, as you know, the hat Larry brought
in for show-and-tell was stolen from the closet
during morning recess yesterday,” said Mr.
Dawson, their teacher. “The hat was found in
James’s backpack just after lunch. You all know
that if someone steals something in my classroom, 
he or she automatically gets a week’s detention, 
but James must have been paying
attention during our mock trial
of Goldilocks last week.

He
asked for this trial, saying
that everyone deserves
his or her day in
court—and he’s
right. Like everyone
else, he deserves
to have his guilt
or innocence 
determined by
a jury of his peers
through the due
process of law. So
now it’s up to you
to participate, listen,
and decide whether
James is guilty or not
guilty of the charge against him. When the trial is
over, I will go along with your verdict.”

“Let’s quickly review how this trial is going
to start. Because I might have to testify as a
witness, I won’t be acting as the judge in this
case. Principal Jeffries has agreed to act as our
judge to make sure everyone follows the rules.” 
Principal Jeffries waved to the class from
where she sat at Mr. Dawson’s desk. Her serious
look made Eva uneasy. 
“First, the bailiff will call the case,” Mr.
Dawson continued. “Then, the lawyer for the
prosecution— that’s Darnell—will give his
opening statement. In it, he will present his
case against the defendant, James, to the jury.

“Next, the lawyer for the defense— that’s
Eva—will give her opening statement and present
James’s side of the case. We’ll talk about what
happens next when we get there. If there are no
questions, let’s get started. Bailiff?”
Bobby Jenkins, the bailiff, stood up from his
chair beside the judge’s desk. Because the bailiff
was in charge of security in the courtroom, he
wore a large silver badge on his shirt that looked
like a police officer’s. He read very carefully from
a sheet of paper.

“All rise,” he began. Only Mr. Dawson stood
up as the rest of the class looked around at each
other. “You’re all supposed to stand up,” Bobby
hissed. Everyone did, and he continued. “The
superior court of Woods Elementary, fifth grade, 
Mr. Dawson’s class number 825, the honorable
judge Principal Jeffries presiding, is now in
session. Please be seated and come to order.” 
Everyone sat as Bobby spoke to Principal
Jeffries. “This is the case of the School versus
James Holt.” 
“Thank you, Bailiff,” Principal Jeffries said. 
“We’ll now hear opening statements from the
prosecution and defense.”

Darnell stood up and faced the twelve
students who made up the jury. 
“Today, I’m going to prove that James really
did steal Larry’s hat,” Darnell said. “I have a
witness who actually saw James coming out of
the classroom during morning recess—the only
time the hat could have been stolen. Also, you
can’t ignore the fact that the hat was found in
James’s backpack! After all this proof, you’ll
have to convict James. He stole the hat, and he
deserves detention. Thank you.”

The case against James was strong, but
something told Eva that he wasn’t a thief. She
took a deep breath to prepare herself for her
opening statement. 
“People of the jury,” she began, “James is not
a thief. Anyone who came in during recess could
have put the hat in James’s backpack. It is true
that James came inside during morning recess, 
but he never went into the classroom.

He just
went to the bathroom and went back outside. 
That’s it. This means the witness could not have
seen him coming out of the classroom. Also,
James asked for this trial. If he were guilty, he
would have just taken his punishment. These
facts will show that he is innocent. Thank you.”
Eva went back to her table with a sigh. James
leaned over to her and said, “That sounded really
good—but his did, too.”

“Tell me about it,” Eva whispered. 
“Very good,” Mr. Dawson said, standing up. 
“Because the defendant, James, is innocent until
proven guilty, Darnell has the burden of proof. 
This means he has to prove to the jury beyond
a reasonable doubt that James stole the hat. He
will do this by presenting evidence and by calling
witnesses to testify, or tell what they know about
the case. His questioning of witnesses is called
direct examination. Before witnesses can testify,
they have to be sworn in by the bailiff, which
means they make a promise to tell the truth. 
Darnell, call your first witness.”

Eva knew she had to pay close attention here. 
If Darnell broke the rules of evidence by asking
or doing something he wasn’t supposed to, she
would have to object. 
“I’m going to call Jasmine first,” Darnell said. 
Jasmine walked up to a chair next to the
judge’s desk. Bobby met her there and said,
“Raise your right hand.” Jasmine did. “Do you
promise to tell the truth?”
“I do,” Jasmine said. She carefully straightened
her skirt before she sat down.

Darnell stepped around the desk and asked, 
“Will you please tell us what happened during
recess yesterday morning?” 
“Yes,” said Jasmine. “I came inside to get my
inhaler and saw James leaving the classroom.” 
“Do you think James stole Larry’s hat?” 
“Objection!” The word shot out of Eva’s
mouth before she really thought about it. Her
mind raced as Principal Jeffries looked at her.

“What is your objection, Eva?” she asked. 
“Oh,” Eva said. “She can’t tell us what she
thinks, right? She didn’t see if he took it or not.” 
“He’s asking the witness for an opinion,”
Principal Jeffries said. “You’re right. It’s not
allowed. Your objection is sustained. Darnell,
you may continue, but don’t ask for any more
opinions.” 
Eva felt a smile spread across her face.

“I don’t have any more questions,” Darnell
said. 
“Now that Darnell has finished,” Mr. Dawson
said, “Eva will also have a chance to question the
witness, which is called cross-examination.” 
Eva only had one question for Jasmine, but
being in front of her and the whole class made
Eva so anxious that she could hardly speak. 
“Was anyone else around when you say you
saw James leaving the classroom?” Eva asked.
Jasmine thought about it for a moment before
replying, “No, I don’t think so.”

“So no one can say whether or not you’re
telling the truth. That’s all I wanted to know.”
Eva felt satisfied that she had made a good point. 
“I am telling the truth,” Jasmine said. “I’ve
never been in trouble. Not once. James has been
in trouble plenty of times.” 
“That’s enough,” Principal Jeffries said. 
“You’re not allowed to talk out of turn as a
witness. You can only answer the questions
truthfully. Take your seat, Jasmine.”
Jasmine did as she was told.

“I call James as my next witness,” Darnell said. 
“Objection!” Eva said. This time she felt sure
of herself. “As the person accused of the crime, 
James has the right not to testify if he doesn’t want
to. So Darnell can’t call him as a witness unless I
do first.” 
“That is correct,” Principal Jeffries said. “Your
objection is sustained. Darnell, call a different
witness.” 
The court turned its attention back to Darnell,
 who called Mr. Dawson to testify. The bailiff had
him promise to tell the truth, which was a funny
sight since Mr. Dawson was twice Bobby’s size.

“While you were watching recess yesterday, 
did you let Jasmine and James go inside?” Darnell
asked.
“I did. He said he needed to use the restroom, 
and she needed to get her inhaler. I also let a
number of other students— 
“You’re only supposed to answer my
questions,” Darnell said. Mr. Dawson’s face
twisted a little, and Eva could tell he didn’t like
the way Darnell was talking to him. 
“Objection!” Eva said. “He’s not being very
nice to the witness.”

People in a Mock Trial 
Judge: The boss in the courtroom, 
the judge runs the trial and decides
what evidence is allowed. 
Prosecuting Lawyer: The lawyer
who argues the case against the
defendant. In a criminal case, the
prosecutor represents the interests 
of the community.
Defense Lawyer: The lawyer who
argues the case on behalf of the
defendant.

Defendant: The person accused of
wrongdoing in a court of law. 
Bailiff: The person who
makes sure everyone stays safe in the
courtroom. In mock trials, bailiffs often
swear in the witnesses. 
Jury: Members of the community 
who listen to the evidence and
decide on a verdict. 
Witnesses: People who
tell about the facts of a
case after promising to
tell the truth.

“He can’t harass the witness,” Principal
Jeffries said, “but keeping the answers limited
only to the question asked is not harassing. Your
objection is overruled.” 
Eva was disappointed, but she stayed quiet
as Darnell continued. 
“Tell us about how you found the hat in
James’s backpack,” Darnell said. 
“During lunch, Larry discovered that he didn’t
have his hat. I took him back to the classroom 
to make sure that he hadn’t misplaced it.

We
couldn’t find it in the closet, so when everyone
returned to class after lunch, I asked if anyone
had seen it. When no one answered, I asked that
each person look in his or her own belongings.
James found the hat in his backpack.” 
“Thank you. I don’t have any more questions,”
Darnell said. 
Questioning her teacher felt odd to Eva, but
she had to do it. 
“Mr. Dawson, before you were interrupted, 
you said you let in a number of students. Did any
of them ask to go into the classroom?” Eva asked.
“Only Jasmine,” Mr. Dawson replied.

“But any of those students could have taken
Larry’s hat.” 
“I suppose so,” Mr. Dawson said. 
“Thank you. I don’t have any more questions.” 
Mr. Dawson took his seat again, and Darnell 
called Jasmine’s best friend, Haley, to testify. As
Darnell began to question Haley, Eva objected. 
Haley was just telling stories about James that she
had heard from other people—she hadn’t actually 
seen James do any of the things she was
describing. The objection was sustained because 
the stories were hearsay and could not be proven.

Finally, Principal Jeffries called for a recess. 
Eva definitely needed the break. She had done
her best, but she didn’t feel confident. The fact
that Mr. Dawson had found the hat in James’s
backpack was a strong piece of evidence. 
Somehow, she needed to prove that James never
went into the classroom when the hat was stolen. 
At recess, Eva asked James, “Can you think
of anyone who can prove that you weren’t in the
classroom? Anyone at all?” 
James shook his head. “I wish I could.”
Eva nodded and said, “I’m not giving up. I’ll
ask around and see if I can find something.”

Eva spent a good part of the recess asking
people who had gone inside during yesterday’s
recess if they were sure they hadn’t seen
anything. She asked every person she could
possibly think of if they had seen or knew
anything that might help James. No one knew
anything.
As they were going back inside, she spotted
the custodian, Mr. Billings, sweeping the floor
at the end of the hallway. 
“Excuse me,” she said as she wheeled herself
toward him, “did you happen to be in this
hallway around this time yesterday?”

After recess, Eva felt much better about the
case. When James asked why she was so happy,
she said, “It’s a secret.” She watched as the bailiff
called the court to order, anxious for her turn to
call witnesses. 
“Does the prosecution have any more
witnesses to call?” Principal Jeffries asked Darnell.
“I don’t, Your Honor,” Darnell replied. “The
prosecution rests its case.” 
“Then does the defense have any witnesses?” 
“I do, Principal! I mean Your Honor,” Eva said. 
“I’d like to call James Holt.”

James looked at Eva as if he were in trouble
and walked up to the desk where Bailiff Bobby
made him promise to tell the truth. 
“What happened during recess yesterday?”
Eva asked. 
“I went to the bathroom,” James replied. 
“Jasmine says that she saw you coming out of
the classroom.” 
“I didn’t go in the classroom. She’s not telling
the truth.” 
“I am!” Jasmine yelled.

Principal Jeffries rapped her knuckles on the
desk. “One more outburst like that and I’ll have
the bailiff take you to my office, Jasmine.”
The room quieted, and Eva said she had no
more questions. James looked really scared now. 
Darnell looked at Eva as he asked James, “Can
you think of anyone who might confirm that you
only went to the bathroom?” 
“No, I can’t,” said James.
“I don’t have any more questions.”

“I’d like to call Mr. Billings, the custodian,” 
Eva said when James took his seat. 
A murmur of surprise went through the
classroom as Mr. Billings came into the room. 
“Objection!” Darnell exclaimed. “I didn’t
know about this witness, so I didn’t have any
time to get ready.” 
“I’d like the prosecution and the defense
lawyers to approach the bench,” Principal Jeffries
said. When Eva and Darnell were both in front of
her, she said, “Eva, you know you’re supposed to
tell the court what witnesses you plan to call.”

“I know,” Eva replied, “but I just discovered
during recess that he has evidence that proves
James is innocent.” 
Principal Jeffries thought about it a moment. 
“I will let him testify, but it better be justified. The
objection is overruled.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Eva said. 
When they had returned to their places,
Mr. Billings walked up to Billy. After promising
to tell the truth, Mr. Billings sat down in the
witness chair.

“Mr. Billings, were you working in the hallway 
outside this classroom yesterday?” Eva asked. 
“I was,” he replied.
“Did you see James in the hallway?” 
“I did,” he replied. “James came in from
outside, went to the bathroom, and left.”
“Did you see anyone else?” 
“The only person I saw go into the classroom
was Jasmine. From where I was standing at the
end of the hall, I don’t think either of them saw
me.”
“Thank you, Mr. Billings,” Eva said. She
couldn’t help smiling. “I don’t have any more
questions.”

Darnell stood up and looked around as if he
wasn’t sure what to do. “I don’t have any
questions,” he said and sat back down. 
“Does the defense have any more witnesses
to call?” Principal Jeffries asked.
“I don’t, Your Honor,” Eva said. “The defense
rests.”
“Then we will move on to closing statements.” 
Mr. Dawson stood up in front of the class. 
“Who remembers what closing statements are?”
he asked. 
“When they sum up their case!” someone
called.

“You’re right,” Mr. Dawson said. “It’s when
the defense and the prosecution go over their case
one more time for the jury. Then the jury will go
and deliberate, which means they will decide
whether James is guilty or not guilty. Whenever
you’re ready, you can begin, Darnell.” 
Darnell looked more nervous than he had
during the entire trial. He summed up his case by
repeating that Larry’s hat was found in James’s
backpack. He made the point three times before
he finally sat down.

It was Eva’s turn to make her closing
statement. First, she reminded the jury that 
Jasmine was the only person who claimed to have
seen James come out of the classroom during
recess. Then, she talked about how James said
he had only gone to the bathroom and how Mr.
Billings had confirmed this. Next, she told them
how Mr. Billings had seen Jasmine go into the
classroom. Finally, she said that anyone who had
gone in the closet during that recess could have
put the hat in James’s backpack. 
When Eva was finished, James looked at her
and said, “After that, I’d say I’m not guilty.”

“Let’s hope the jury thinks the same thing,”
Eva replied. 
Principal Jeffries dismissed the jury, who went
into another room to deliberate. During the
Goldilocks trial, they had chosen a verdict in the
classroom in front of everyone. Because this was
a real case, Mr. Dawson had decided that it would
be best if the jury deliberated in private. Eva
knew the jury took a vote to see what each juror
thought. If they didn’t all agree on whether the
defendant was guilty or not guilty, they would
discuss the case until everyone agreed.

In the Goldilocks trial,
the jury had deliberated 
for almost an hour before
reaching the decision of
guilty. This time, they
came back in the room 
after only a few minutes.
“Has the jury reached a
verdict?” Principal Jeffries
asked when everyone was
settled. 
“We have, Your Honor,”
said one of the jurors. She
unfolded a sheet of yellow
paper and read aloud. 
“We, the jury in the case of
Woods Elementary versus
James Holt, find the defendant not guilty of the
crime of theft.”

A cheer erupted from the classroom. James
leaned over and gave Eva a big hug and said, 
“I owe you one. Thank you!” 
When the noise had died down, Eva heard
Jasmine say, “So he doesn’t get detention? Mr.
Dawson found the hat in that secret pocket inside
James’s backpack. He should get in trouble.”

“How did you know that the hat was in the
secret pocket?” Mr. Dawson asked.
Jasmine turned bright red and looked scared. 
“He—he ruined my dress!” she said. “He spilled
juice on it during lunch last week and never even
apologized. I just wanted him to get in trouble for
something, so I put the hat in his backpack.” 
Principal Jeffries stood up from behind the
desk and said, “I think we’d better take a trip
down to my office, Jasmine.” 
Jasmine nodded, and Principal Jeffries walked
with her out of the room. 
“Well, that’s about enough excitement for this
morning. I hope nothing else goes missing for a
long time,” Mr. Dawson said. “Let’s get this room
in order before the lunch bell rings.”

The School Versus James Holt

Introduction
 Have you noticed how people decorate their bodies in different ways? 
 In addition to clothing and hairstyles, people have many ways of adorning their bodies. Some think of their body as a blank
 canvas on which to create art, while others 
 change their body to conform to cultural 
 standards of beauty.Body art has been 
 practiced since the first humans were 
 alive. Every culture in the world
 practices one or more forms of body art. 
 Cultures have unique styles of decoration, as well.
 as unique reasons for doing it. Read on to learn about some.
 of the ways people around the world create body art.

Body Painting
 Body painting, the most temporary form of body art, is believed to be at least 30,000 years old. For thousands of years, people in most parts of the world have painted their bodies for special occasions, such as hunts, war, and mourning. People also paint their 
 bodies for special ceremonies to mark a rite 
 of passage or a change in social status.
 Many body-painting traditions, passed down
 from generation to generation, have survived 
 to modern times.
 Among the Aboriginal people of Australia,
 body painting carries spiritual meaning. Designs
 reflect social rank, family and ancestral bonds,
 and connections with animals and the land.

Traditional body painting called mehndi 
 is still practiced in India, the Middle East, 
 and North Africa. Mehndi is worn to help 
 celebrate special occasions. Brides 
 traditionally wear mehndi, and in some 
 ethnic groups the grooms do as well.
 A reddish-brown paste made from the henna
 plant is applied to people’s hands and feet 
 using a plastic cone. The intricate, fine-lined
 designs may last from two weeks to several months.

The Surma people of Ethiopia paint their bodies with chalk and other 
 natural pigments. These cattle herders have few possessions, and
 body painting is their main form of artistic expression. 
 Children learn body painting from
 their parents, and close friends often wear
 matching face paint to display their bonds.
 The most common modern body painting.
 is the use of cosmetic makeup by women in
 Western countries. Some wear makeup to hide
 skin blemishes, while others try to conform to
 the media’s images of beauty presented by.
 models and movie stars. Westerners also enjoy
 face painting at Halloween and at festivals.
 Fans often use it to show team loyalty at sporting events.

Tattooing
 Tattoos, which are permanent body painting, are another form of body art that’s been practiced for thousands of years. Tattooing involves
 applying pigments under the skin, often using 
 fine needles, or in earlier days, quills.
 Japanese tattooing, called irezumi, has both
 decorative and spiritual purposes. 
 It is believed to have started more than 
 10,000 years ago. Irezumi is an advanced 
 art form in which tattoos cover large 
 areas of the body, including the arms,
 back, chest, and legs. A traditional 
 irezumi“body suit” can cost $30,000 
 or more, and may require up to five
 years of weekly tattoo sessions to complete.

Among the people of Samoa, a South Pacific
 island, men wear bold, dark gray 
 tattoos that extend from the waist to 
 the knees. Their tattoos include 
 traditional designs such as animals 
 and geometric patterns. Samoan women’s 
 tattoos are more varied but always 
 include a diamond shape on the backs 
 of the knees. For Samoans, tattoos
 represent adulthood and a willingness 
 to serve their community.

Captain James Cook brought tattooing 
 to Western culture from the South 
 Pacific in the late 1700s. Many of 
 his sailors returned from Tahiti
 with a tattoo as a souvenir. 
 As others copied this art form, 
 tattooing became a popular form of
 self-expression in Europe and 
 eventually North America. It 
 remains popular today as a decorative
 and sometimes humorous expression 
 of freedom and individuality.

Do You Know?
 What happens when someone gets a 
 tattoo and later changes his or 
 her mind? Tattoo removal is a long, 
 expensive, and usually painful process 
 without perfect results. Methods 
 include sanding away layers of skin, 
 surgically cutting out the tattoo, and
 the preferred method—laser treatments. 
 People are working to improve ways 
 to remove tattoos. They’re also working 
 to develop new inks that are less permanent.

Piercing and Ornamentation
 Body piercing is at least 5,000 years old, as revealed by one of the 
 oldest mummies in the world. An ancient mummy, found in 1991 
 in an Austrian glacier, has pierced 
 ears. Some anthropologists believe
 that the first piercings may have 
 been done as protection against demons. 
 The reasons for piercing, both long ago 
 and today, include fashion, social status, 
 religious ritual, and personal expression. 
 In ancient Egypt, piercings were signs of success 
 and reserved for royalty. Only the pharaoh, 
 or ruler, was allowed to have a pierced navel.

Ears, noses, and lips are common places 
 for piercings. Some of the most spectacular 
 lip piercing is found among certain African 
 tribes. Girls of the Mursi tribe of Ethiopia 
 start wearing a plate in their lower lip 
 around age 15. A round clay disk is inserted 
 into a pierced hole. The lip gradually 
 stretches as plates of increasing size
 are inserted over time. The larger the plate, 
 the more wealth in the form of cattle
 the girl’s father will receive when she
 marries. Other tribes, including the Suyá 
 of Brazil, wear a similar body ornament.

The septum—the tissue between the 
 two nostrils—is another common 
 location for body piercing. 
 This practice has been most 
 common in warrior cultures. 
 Septum ornaments often are,
 or are made to look like, 
 animal tusks to create 
 a fierce appearance.

Before contact with Europeans 
 in the late 1400s, septum piercing 
 was practiced throughout the Americas 
 by the Maya, Aztec, Inca, and other
 tribes. Septum piercing is still 
 popular among many South Pacific 
 island cultures. In Papua New Guinea, 
 body art among men is an important part
 of ceremonies and festivals. Members 
 of different clans display their 
 cultural roots through body painting, 
 piercing and ornamentation, and
 elaborate headdresses.

Body Shaping
 Cultures around the world also have 
 many methods of shaping bodies. 
 Women of the Padong culture of Myanmar 
 and Thailand begin wearing heavy brass
 neck coils at the age of five. 
 The coils press down on the rib cage 
 and shoulder muscles to make the neck 
 look longer, which is considered attractive.

Skull shaping dates back at least 
 10,000 years in Australia. Prehistoric 
 people in the Americas also practiced 
 skull shaping. Today, on the Pacific
 Island nation of Vanuatu, mothers 
 bind the head of infants using soft 
 tree bark covered with a basket and rope. 
 Over the next six months, the child’s 
 head slowly takes on a more elongated
 shape. Elongated heads are considered a 
 sign of intelligence and spirituality 
 in the Vanuatu culture.

Chinese footbinding began in the tenth century and 
 continued until 1949, when it was made illegal 
 by the newly formed government of the People’s 
 Republic of China. Women tucked under the four 
 smaller toes of their young daughters’ feet and 
 wrapped each foot tightly with strips of cloth. 
 The binding was tightened every two days. 
 Footbinding broke bones, caused severe pain and 
 infections, and made it almost impossible to walk.
 In the Chinese culture,bound feet were considered 
 beautiful and were believed necessary for a woman
 to marry and have a good life.

European women wore corsets starting in 
 the 1500s. A corset was a tight 
 undergarment that created a tiny waist, 
 which was fashionable through the early 
 1900s. In addition to discomfort,
 some women who wore corsets suffered from
 painful broken ribs and disturbed internal 
 organs. The fashion gradually became less 
 popular as women began to work outside the 
 home and needed to move about freely without a tight corset.

Teeth are another target of body shaping. Hindu people on the island 
 of Bali file their six front teeth to create a smooth edge so their teeth will not look pointed like those of wild animals. The Mentawai of a different island do just the opposite, 
 filing their teeth into sharp points. 
 And in many countries today, some people 
 have their teeth straightened to follow 
 a standard of beauty. Teeth whitening is 
 also becoming popular.Cosmetic surgery is 
 a popular—and often risky—practice 
 in many parts of the world. Millions 
 of people each year have surgery to change the shape of their face 
 or body, often to meet an ideal standard of beauty. Severe infections,scarring, and other problems can result.

Be Smart About Body Art
 Which kinds of body art in this book are temporary? 
 Which ones are permanent? Before you get any 
 body art, here are some things to think about.
 1.Permanent body art is for adults—
 kids aren’t old enough to make
 decisions that last a lifetime.
 2.Permanent body art is risky. People who get
 tattoos with unclean equipment can catch
 serious illnesses, including HIV. 
 Permanent body art can lead to infections and
 injuries that may require surgery. Large scars
 can grow, even from a small wound.
 3.Some permanent body art can be extremely painful!

If you like the idea of body art, try these
 kid-friendly ideas.
 1.A new hairstyle or kind of clothing can
 be a great way to express who you are.
 2.Temporary tattoos come in an incredible
 variety of designs.
 3.Many kinds of fun
 jewelry don’t require any piercing.
 4.Face painting is an excellent way to play
 with your appearance and step into a new
 identity. Enjoy it for Halloween, a festival,
 or a party with your friends!

Body Art

Written by Linda J. Altman
 Illustrated by Marcy Ramsey

About Women’s Suffrage
 Less than 100 years ago, women’s lives 
 were very different than they are today. 
 Women were expected to obey their fathers 
 until they were married, and then to obey 
 their husbands. They could not own 
 property or sign contracts in their own
 names. They did not even have suffrage,
 which means the right to vote.

The struggle to change that second-class
 status began in 1848. On July 19 and 20, a
 group gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, for
 a Woman’s Rights Convention. At the end of the
 meeting, one hundred people—68 women and 32
 sympathetic men—signed a declaration stating
 the rights of women as human beings and
 citizens. This launched a movement that fought
 for women’s right to vote, a movement known
 as the Women’s Suffrage Movement.
 The fight for the vote went on for seventy-two
 years. Women marched and demonstrated.
 They were insulted, pelted with everything from
 tomatoes to rotten eggs, and were even arrested,
 but they would not quit, and in fact, only
 increased their activity with time.

In 1919, Congress finally passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the 
 Constitution, giving women full suffrage. It went to the states 
 for ratification,or approval, and on August 26, 1920, it became the
 law of the land. Of the 68 women who signed the declaration in Seneca 
 Falls, only one lived long enough to vote. She was Charlotte 
 Woodward, or Charlotte Pierce after marriage. She was still a
 teenager when she attended the convention and over 90 when she was 
 able to vote in 1920. This is the Mrs. Pierce who appears in the story.

Prologue
 Charlotte Hartley dressed with special care on
 that crisp November morning in 1920. After all, 
 it was a historic occasion; women had finally 
 won the right to vote. Today, 21-year-old
 Charlotte would be one of thousands to cast her 
 first ballot, and she wanted everything to be 
 perfect. Her parents were still in the breakfast 
 room when she got downstairs. Father never 
 looked up from his morning paper, but considering 
 all that had happened, Charlotte didn’t expect
 anything else. Mama wiped her hands on her
 apron and managed an uncertain smile. “You’re
 going so early?”

“Mrs. Pierce’s idea,” said Charlotte. 
 “I’m meeting her at the courthouse.”
 Mama nodded, blinking back tears. “Give her
 my best,” she whispered. Mother and daughter
 embraced, and then Charlotte left without a
 backward glance. She caught a motorbus to the
 courthouse. The wheels clattered and the seats
 creaked, but Charlotte scarcely heard, because 
 she was remembering the day ten years ago when it all started.

Chapter 1
 The summer Charlotte turned eleven, her life changed. It started one Saturday 
 as she was curled on the couch reading Little Women for 
the third time, when 
 a great, gusting sneeze startled her. Her father loomed in the parlor doorway, 
 looking at her with red-rimmed eyes. “Why is your mother out? Go fetch 
 her, please,” he said. “Tell her I have a rotten cold and I’m going up to 
 bed.” He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose. Charlotte closed her book 
 without even bothering to mark the page. Of all the days for Father to come home 
 early, this was the absolute worst. She started talking without knowing quite 
 what she wanted to say. Father told her to stop babbling, but telling 
 Father something
he didn’t like to hear was not an easy thing to do.

“Poor Elvira Foley wasn’t feeling well,” Charlotte finally stammered, “and 
 Mama went to be with her.” It wasn’t exactly a lie—Mrs. Foley really 
 was suffering one of her famous spells, but she had still come to walk 
 with Mama to the secret meeting. Father muttered something about women
 gadding everywhere in creation, and then he sneezed again. “Well, go 
 get her, and be quick about it.” “Yes, sir,” said Charlotte, and she 
 was off. She took her bicycle and rode leaning into the wind, her auburn 
 hair whipping behind her, pedaling as fast as she could. It was not the least 
 bit ladylike, but she didn’t care if anyone stared. This was anemergency.

She raced down tree-lined streets of brownstones, past blocks of skinny row 
 houses, and into the center of town. At the Methodist Church, she stopped 
 in front of the social hall and rushed inside. There were signs everywhere: 
 VOTES FOR WOMEN; WOMEN ARE CITIZENS, TOO; WOMAN SUFFRAGE NOW. 
 Charlotte spotted her mother talking to an old woman with skin like 
 crumpled parchment. She remembered her manners just long enough to 
 apologize for
interrupting, and then she launched into her story.

By the time she finished, her mother’s face was pasty pale. “Of all the times for him to come home early,” she murmured, sounding scared. “If he finds out where 
 I am, he’ll be furious.” The old woman patted Mama’s hand. “Now don’t you worry, Edith; come along with me.” The woman led the way outside to a green Ford Town Car, 
 which was the prettiest, shiniest thing
Charlotte had ever seen.

“The driver will take you home and come back for the rest of us,” said the woman. “Your husband will never know where you were.” Tears welled in Mama’s eyes. “Thank you,
 Mrs. Pierce,” she said, and the two women embraced. Charlotte would have loved to ride in the Town Car, but there was no time for loading her bicycle. She followed, this time sitting erect
and pedaling at a decidedly ladylike pace.

When Charlotte got home, Mama had everything under control. She had given Father hot tea with lemon juice and 
 honey and rubbed his chest with mentholatum, and 
 now he was sleeping peacefully. Mama sang to herself 
 in the kitchen, stopping long enough to give 
 Charlotte a big hug and to tell her how smart she 
 had been. “If you hadn’t kept your head today, 
 your father might have found me out, and that would 
 have been the end of my suffrage work.”“But why?” 
 The question had been bothering Charlotte for a 
 long time. Mama went sneaking around as though she were robbing banks or something equally terrible, 
 but the suffragists only wanted to vote, so why would anybody—even
Father—object to that?

“They have a serviceable list of reasons,” 
 said Mama. “Women have no head for politics 
 or business . . . they don’t belong in public 
 life. The husband’s job is to provide for the 
 wife and family while the wife bears the 
 children, raises them, cares for the home, 
 and obeys her husband in all things.” 
 “Sounds dull,” said Charlotte. Mama burst 
 out laughing. “Daughter dear, I think it’s 
 time you went to a suffrage meeting.” That 
 suited Charlotte just fine.

Chapter 2
 During the pleasant days of June through the
 steamy-hot ones of July, Mama hinted at a surprise. 
 To Charlotte, “surprise” was one of the most magical words in the English language. She asked dozens of questions, pestering and probing, even trying to trick her mother into revealing something. Nothing worked.
 Then at the suffrage meeting, Charlotte knew something was afoot the minute she walked in the door. Mrs. 
 Pierce was waiting with two saved seats in the front row. In spite of the midsummer heat, the meeting was well attended. The women dressed for comfort rather 
 than fashion, most without gloves, and some had taken off their hats. They sat fanning themselves with the leaf-shaped pasteboard fans that churches had by the boxful.

The president called the meeting to order, 
 and after the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance,
 she asked for introductions of guests and new
 members. Mrs. Pierce struggled to her feet, 
 her wrinkled face made radiant by a broad 
 smile. “Ladies,” she said, “I’d like to 
 introduce the fastthinking little girl who 
 rescued her mother last month.” The old 
 woman motioned Charlotte to her feet. “I’m 
 proud to say that she is my namesake. Everyone 
 say hello to young Miss Charlotte Hartley.”

The audience applauded. Charlotte was
 shaking so badly that she feared her knees would
 give way. She was named for a living piece of
 Suffrage Movement history, for Mrs. Pierce was
 none other than Charlotte Woodward, one of the
 founders. At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848,
 she was the thirty-seventh person to sign the
 Declaration of Women’s Rights.
 “So, do you like the surprise?” asked Mama,
 smiling. For once in her life, Charlotte couldn’t
 think of a thing to say, so she swallowed hard and
 nodded. It was inspiring, finding out she was
 named for an honest-to-goodness pioneer, but it
 was also scary, and she wondered how an eleven-year-
 old could live up to the honor.

Chapter 3
 Come September, Charlotte realized 
 that there was one place where 
 being eleven was an advantage: at 
 school. Charlotte decided to rally 
 her classmates to the cause. She 
 would start a Girls’ Suffrage 
 Society, or GSS, because after 
 all, girls grew up to be women.

She started with girls whose mothers, and
 sometimes even fathers, were involved in the
 Suffrage Movement. Then she went to the
 tomboys, the bookworms, and the girls who could
 do long division in their heads. She hesitated
 before inviting the pretty, frilly girls, but to 
 her surprise, many of them accepted. Mama called 
 that a lesson in not judging people before you 
 knew them. Such prejudices about women had 
 doomed generations to second-class status, she 
 said. After recruiting twenty members and
 convincing a sympathetic teacher to let them meet
 in her classroom, Charlotte’s first activity 
 was to write a declaration of principles.

They based it on
 the famous one that Mrs. Pierce had signed at the
 Seneca Falls Convention. The declaration wasn’t
 just about voting. It was about dreams and hopes
 and wanting to be equal human beings. One
 girl wanted women to have the right to drive
 automobiles, while another wanted to ban corsets.
 After Charlotte copied the declaration in her
 best penmanship, the members gathered to sign.
 Each girl stepped forward and wrote her name,
 and then Charlotte held up the document for all
 to see. The “Declaration of the Rights of Future
 Women Citizens” was indeed an impressive statement.

Before the ink was even dry, Charlotte found
 herself scrambling for new activities. The
 grownups at Mama’s meetings had plenty of
 ideas; they were planning to take the cause 
 out of church social halls and into the 
 streets. It was time to sway the hearts and
 minds of the people with huge rallies, 
 speeches, and suffrage songs, they said.
 Charlotte loved the idea of public
 demonstrations, but Mama had nothing good to 
 say about them. In one of their kitchen talks,
 she ranted against such unseemly behavior.

“Making a spectacle of ourselves like that . . .
 it’s undignified. Neither you nor I shall act 
 in such an unladylike fashion.”
 “But Mama, even Mrs. Pierce said it was time
 for action, remember?” Charlotte raised one
 finger skyward as Mrs. Pierce did when she had
 something important to say. “We must make
 noise, my friends,” she said, in her best Mrs.
 Pierce imitation. “The battle for suffrage will 
 be won in the court of public opinion.” Mama 
 laughed, sputtering a bit as if she were trying 
 to hold it back. “Very good, dear. You may just 
 have a future for yourself in vaudeville theater.”

That was the end of the conversation, and
 try as she might, Charlotte could not bring
 the subject back around. There was no
 understanding Mama’s strange attitude. That
 night, Charlotte lay awake thinking about it
 and listening to the gloomy hooting of an owl.
 But by morning, she had a perfect idea for
 a new activity. There was no reason the GSS
 couldn’t do something at school, something
 dramatic, something that would shape public
 opinion, just as Mrs. Pierce had wanted.

Chapter 4
 Charlotte had visions of a rally—a big one. “We could have speeches, and maybe 
 read our declaration,” she told the GSS. From the murmur running through 
 the room, she could tell that this idea was gaining support. “I don’t 
 know where we’d have it, exactly . . .” “In the auditorium,” Elyse Morrison 
 squealed, cutting Charlotte off in midsentence. She was on her feet, practically 
 bouncing up and down. “We could volunteer to do an assembly. It’s perfect,
 and we don’t have to worry about attendance, because every girl in school 
 would have to be there.” There was no need for more discussion. Everybody 
 agreed at once. That night, Charlotte stayed up way past her bedtime writing 
 a proposal, and the next morning she took it to Assistant Headmistress Trotter.

When Charlotte entered the office, she found Mrs. Trotter sitting behind 
 an impossibly huge carved mahogany desk that dwarfed everything else in 
 the room, including Mrs. Trotter, who smiled without showing any teeth. 
 “I understand you have an idea for an assembly, Miss Hartley,” she said. 
 It was not a promising beginning, but Charlotte cleared her throat and 
 handed over the proposal. When Mrs. Trotter saw the word “suffrage,” she 
 pushed the paper away as though the ink were poisoned. “Suffrage is 
 not an appropriate subject for an assembly. Parents do not send their 
 little girls to school to have them learn such things.”

The interview ended almost before it had begun. Charlotte stood outside the office door, caught between anger and humiliation. Anger won. She raced down the hallway and found Elyse Morrison getting ready to go into class.
 “We’re not going to have an assembly,” Charlotte said, gasping for breath. She handed Elyse the proposal that Mrs. Trotter had refused to read. “We are going to have a sign-carrying, slogan-shouting protest march!”

Chapter 5
 On a damp and dreary Friday afternoon, the GSS members gathered in front of the school. As students poured out of 
 the building after dismissal, the protesters began marching 
 in a circle, chanting slogans and waving their signs:
 LEARN ABOUT SUFFRAGE; SUPPORT FREEDOM 
 OF ASSEMBLY; GIRLS: SPEAK YOUR MIND.

Some students laughed, some booed, and some scurried past with their eyes lowered, pretending not to see. But some stayed to watch, as if to lend support. Mrs. Trotter marched 
 out and announced that she was going to start calling every 
 home that had a telephone. Charlotte’s mother arrived less than an hour later, but she did not come alone. Three other suffragists, including Mrs.
Pierce, came with her.

Charlotte had been afraid to tell Mama about
 the protest, and now she was afraid to look her
 in the eye. “Mama, I’m sorry. I know you said 
 we shouldn’t do anything public, but we had to 
 do this. We just had to.” “I know that, dear,” 
 Mama said. Her voice was perfectly calm, as if 
 she had come to terms with something. “Now, do 
 you have any extra signs that we might use?”
 Charlotte could scarcely believe what she
 was seeing. To old Mrs. Trotter’s horror, one 
 by one, Mama and the other suffragists picked up
 signs and fell into line with the girls. Some of
 the onlookers broke into applause. It was a
 wonderful moment, or at least it was until Mrs.
 Trotter called the police. They came with two
 squad cars and a paddy wagon.

A ruddy-faced sergeant tipped his cap to Mrs.
 Pierce. “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but you
 ladies are trespassing. Now, I don’t want to 
 haul you off to jail . . .” “That’s good to 
 know, Sergeant,” said Mrs. Pierce. She didn’t 
 break stride, nor did anyone else in the line. 
 The sergeant threw up his hands. “All right, 
 all right, you ladies are under arrest. The 
 children can go to the school detention room.”

“No detention,” Charlotte shouted. “WE WANT 
 JAIL! WE WANT JAIL!” The girls picked
 up the chant as if they had practiced for 
 days, while Mama and the other suffragists 
 laughed so hard they almost cried.
 “That does it!” shouted the beleaguered
 sergeant. “Everybody into the wagon.”
 Without breaking their line, the protesters
 marched to the paddy wagon. Charlotte led the
 way, with Mama and Mrs. Pierce behind her.
 Never in her life would Charlotte have thought
 that getting arrested could be such fun.

Chapter 6
 The fun ended when Father arrived at the
 police station. His eyes were cold, and he did
 not speak to Mama or Charlotte until they got
 home. Then he sent Charlotte to her room
 without dinner. She lay ramrod straight in bed, 
 holding the covers tight under her chin. Once 
 or twice she thought she heard Father shouting, 
 and once, a dish breaking, but mostly there was 
 silence. Charlotte woke to the morning light 
 without knowing when she had fallen asleep. She 
 waited until she was sure that Father had left 
 for the day, and then she raced downstairs to 
 the kitchen, only to find her mother calmly 
 washing breakfast dishes.

“I saved you some oatmeal,” she said. “You
 must be starved.”
 Over reheated cereal, Charlotte learned of her
 mother’s sacrifice. She had promised Father 
 she would quit suffrage work forever and she 
 would never vote, even if it became legal.
 “But Mama . . .” “It’s all right, dear; I 
 knew this was likely to
 happen when I picked up that protest sign.”
 Charlotte began to tremble. “That’s why you
 were so against public demonstrations—because
 you didn’t want Father to find out. Oh Mama,
 this is all my fault.”

“Now, don’t you start crying. It is not your
 fault. The movement is going public, and I just
 couldn’t hide anymore.”
 Mama washed out the sink and dried her
 hands on a kitchen towel. “There is one good
 thing,” she said. “This arrangement applies 
 only to me—not to you.”
 Charlotte got the message; she would not
 quit. She would fight for a world like the one
 Mrs. Pierce described—where being a person
 came before being a woman, and she would
 vote. Someday, she would vote.

Epilogue
 Mrs. Pierce arrived at the courthouse in the
 same green Town Car. It was nicked in a few
 places, but otherwise had borne the years 
 well, and so, for that matter, had its owner. 
 Mrs. Pierce’s hair was whiter and her 
 wrinkles deeper, but her eyes still twinkled 
 when she smiled. “We made it, my little 
 namesake,” she said.“Now, let’s hurry and 
 vote. At my age, it’s not wise to dawdle.”

Meeting Mrs. Pierce

Part One of The American Revolution
 Written by Terry Miller Shannon
 and Annette Carruthers

Britain’s Colonies
 Over 200 years ago, a ragtag group of colonists
 fought a war against an empire—and won! Those
 colonists lived in what is now the United States,
 and they fought against Great Britain. Britain 
 was a well-established country in the Old World 
 and was trying to secure land in the New World. 
 The New World comprised North, Central, and 
 South America. Many Old World countries in 
 Europe, such as Spain and France, wanted land 
 in the New World too. Over time, Britain had 
 claimed 13 American colonies.

The people who moved to the British colonies
 were called colonists, and they lived across 
 the Atlantic Ocean from the country that 
 controlled them. The distance allowed the 
 colonists to develop their own ideas and 
 ways of doing things. It was this 
 independent spirit that fueled the 
 Revolutionary War, even though the colonists 
 and Great Britain had once been friends. 
 In the 1700s, they had worked together to 
 defeat a common enemy—France.

The French and Indian War
 In the 1750s, both France and England wanted
 the same land in North America. The two
 countries had competed for hundreds of years
 to gain power in the Old World, and that
 competition continued in the New World. The
 French had explored areas around the Great
 Lakes and the Ohio River Valley. French fur
 trappers had established trading posts in those
 areas. England claimed ownership of the same
 areas, and colonists settled there.

Native Americans had lived there long before
 either the French or the British. The French
 traders and trappers were friendly with many of
 the Native American tribes of the region. As
 British settlers moved west from the East Coast,
 Native Americans lost much of the land they had
 used for centuries for living and hunting. The
 British signed treaties, or agreements, with the
 Native American tribes to pay for and purchase
 their land. The tribes did not have the same 
 ideas as the British about ownership and often 
 didn’t realize the rights they were giving up. 
 Many of the tribes were angry and willing to use 
 force to regain the right to use the land they 
 had always used.

As France and Britain prepared for war in the New World, 
 some Native American tribes sided with Britain and others sided with France. Both sides began to build forts in the Ohio River Valley to protect their rights to the land. In 1754, the French built Fort Duquesne where the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is today. The fort was built in a spot thought to be key to 
 controlling the Ohio River Valley. Both sides 
 wanted the fort. The British sent a young surveyor 
 named George Washington to the fort to persuade 
 the French to leave. The French refused. 
 Washington and his men attacked a group of French 
 scouts, killing 10 men. Washington’s group of men 
 built Fort Necessity not far from Fort Duquesne. 
 The French captured Fort Necessity, but Washington
 and his men surrendered and then escaped.

Thinking Critically
 WHY is Fort Duquesne (now
 Pittsburgh) a good place for a 
 fort? IN YOUR MIND, where would
 be a good place for another fort?

Washington then went to fight alongside
 Britain’s General Edward Braddock. Braddock’s
 goal was to banish the French from the Ohio
 River Valley, beginning with Fort Duquesne.
 However, the French hid soldiers and their 
 Native American allies in the woods alongside 
 the columns of British soldiers marching on 
 the fort. They shot at the British, who 
 panicked and ran. General Braddock was killed, 
 as were more than half of his soldiers. This 
 battle is considered by many to be the first 
 real battle of the French and Indian War.

In 1756, Britain declared war on France.
 The official fighting began that year, although
 many battles had already been fought in the New
 and Old Worlds. Britain sent more troops to the
 colonies, as did France. At first it seemed France
 would win the war, but the British attacked the
 critical points of Fort Niagara, Lake Champlain,
 and Quebec. The French were cut off from the Ohio
 River Valley, the Mississippi River, and the port at
 New Orleans. The French depended on supplies
 coming out of these areas. Without supplies, the
 French could not survive in the New World.
 Britain won the war. The Treaty of Paris, signed
 in 1763, cut off all French claims to North America.
 British colonists could now move freely into the
 areas once controlled by France, including Canada.

Colonists were pleased to be part of Britain.
 Many had fought alongside British troops in the
 French and Indian War against a common enemy.
 The colonists were grateful Britain fought for their
 rights to move west. However, their gratitude did
 not last long. Just a decade later, gratitude and
 friendship turned to distrust and revolution.
 The distrust began soon after the French and
 Indian War. Britain had decided to keep 10,000
 soldiers in the New World to defend its land there.
 The soldiers needed places to live and food to eat.
 Britain also needed money to pay off war debts,
 and to govern its expanded empire. King George III
 and Britain’s Parliament had an idea: Let the
 colonists pay for the soldiers’ housing and food
 and pay taxes to help pay off Britain’s war debts.

Taxation Without Representation
 In 1764, just a year after the Treaty of 
 Paris, Britain’s Parliament passed the 
 Sugar Act, which taxed Spanish and French 
 molasses and sugar bought by colonists. 
 The cheap Spanish and French sugar that 
 colonists had been buying was now so 
 expensive that they had to buy British sugar. 
 This made money that Britain could use to 
 pay off its war debts. In 1765, Britain’s 
 Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which 
 called for colonists to house the 10,000 
 British troops still in America after the 
 French and Indian War in their private homes.

Britain’s soldiers lived with colonists
 and were not required to pay rent or help 
 the family in any way. But it was the Stamp 
 Act, passed that same year, that really 
 raised an outcry from the colonists. The 
 act required colonists to buy a British 
 stamp for the printed paper they used, 
 which meant they would pay taxes on 
 newspapers, calendars, playing cards, and 
 other paper items. The colonists were not 
 happy about being taxed. They complained 
 most loudly about the fact that they had 
 no voice in the government that taxed them.

Colonists’ fury led to cries of “No taxation
 without representation.” They wanted someone
 in Parliament to speak for them, but King George
 did not like colonists telling him what he should
 do. While he was thinking of how to retaliate
 against the rebellious colonists, the colonists
 began working together to fight the taxes.
 Over the years, colonists had developed ways
 of ruling themselves. In Virginia, an elected
 assembly set laws for the colony. This elected
 assembly argued over the Stamp Act’s fairness.
 Patrick Henry, a young lawyer, stood and
 announced that no one except Virginians had the
 right to tax Virginians. The assembly accepted
 Henry’s position, even though some called Henry
 a traitor for speaking out against King George.

Newspapers reported Henry’s position, and
 soon people throughout the 13 colonies were
 protesting the Stamp Act. James Otis and Samuel
 Adams joined Henry as just a few of the leaders
 speaking out against the tax. Colonists like
 Adams, Henry, and Otis were called Patriots.
 Colonists who supported King George were
 called Loyalists. Some of the Patriots formed
 groups called the Sons of Liberty and the
 Daughters of Liberty and urged colonists to
 refuse to trade with or buy goods from the
 British. Some British stamp agents were even
 attacked by colonists. More acts from Britain’s
 Parliament were to come, as were more attacks.

Do You Know?
 Samuel Adams was
 an outspoken supporter
 of revolution against
 the British. He opposed
 Britain’s taxes. He was
 one of the first to speak
 about independence.

In October 1765, nine colonies out of thirteen
 sent representatives to New York to take part
 in the Stamp Act Congress. The congress asked
 Britain’s Parliament to repeal, or cancel, the
 Stamp Act. In 1766, King George agreed to repeal
 the Stamp Act. But, in 1767, the Townshend Acts
 were passed. The Townshend Acts put taxes on
 glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea. Colonists raged
 against the new taxes. They boycotted, or refused
 to buy, British goods. In 1770, Britain repealed
 all but one of the Townshend Acts because its
 merchants were losing money. Tension between the Patriots and Britain was building. British soldiers spread across the colonies to enforce the taxes. More taxes brought more resentment. One night in Boston, 
 the tension and resentment brought more violence.

Acts of Frustration and Retaliation
 Large numbers of British soldiers had lived
 fairly peacefully in Boston after the French and
 Indian War. Colonists resented the soldiers,
 but for years, they managed to live side by side.
 On the night of March 5, 1770, a group of rowdy
 Boston colonists picked a fight with some British
 soldiers. One thing led to another, and the soldiers
 began to shoot. The soldiers killed five colonists.
 Patriot Samuel Adams saw the fight in Boston as a 
 way to get more colonists on the side of independence. He asked his friend Paul Revere, a silversmith, to engrave a picture of what happened in Boston.

Do You Know?
 Crispus Attucks, a former slave, 
 is believed to be the first 
 person killed in the Boston Massacre. 
 He lived in Boston and worked as a
 whaler on ships in Boston Harbor. He 
 believed strongly in freedom from 
 Great Britain. At his memorial 
 service, many speeches were given 
 about Crispus Attucks his bravery.

Adams called the fight started by colonists 
 the Boston Massacre. The engraved picture, 
 which showed British soldiers firing into 
 a group of peaceful colonists, was printed 
 in newspapers and other places. The picture 
 was not a true account of events, but it 
 gave Adams the result he wanted. The 
 picture enraged many colonists.

Thinking Critically
 HOW was Samuel Adams a spin doctor, 
 or a person who takes the truth and 
 “spins” it to his advantage in 
 political situations? What did Adams 
 gain by his actions? IN YOUR MIND, is 
 spindoctoring the right thing to do?

In 1773, all that was left of the Townshend Acts
 was a tax on tea. The Tea Act required colonists 
 to buy tea only from Britain’s East India Company.
 The colonists were still not represented in
 Parliament, and they were angry that not all of the taxes were repealed. A group of frustrated colonists showed their dislike for the tea tax. They climbed aboard a British ship and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. They dressed up as Native Americans 
 so they could not be blamed for the trouble they caused. However, the British were neither fooled nor amused.
 The act became known as the Boston Tea Party.

Thinking Critically
 HOW did human nature fuel
 the outcry against Britain?
 IN YOUR MIND, if the same
 situation occurred today, how
 would it be different?

In 1774, King George and Parliament retaliated
 with the Coercive Acts, which the colonists
 renamed the Intolerable Acts. These acts were
 written to punish the rebellious colonists. One
 of the acts closed Boston Harbor to all ship 
 traffic. That put many Boston colonists out of 
 work and made them worry that they would starve.
 Colonists in other areas felt sorry for Boston
 and were furious with Britain. In the meantime,
 Britain appointed General Thomas Gage as governor 
 of Massachusetts, and sent him to Boston to take 
 control of the city. Gage brought 4,000 troops with 
 him, which the colonists then had to house and feed.

Like the Stamp Act that came before it, the
 Intolerable Acts united colonists against Britain.
 In September 1774, twelve colonies sent delegates, 
 or representatives, to Philadelphia to meet in 
 the First Continental Congress. The delegates 
 insisted the Intolerable Acts be repealed. They 
 also insisted that colonists have a say in all 
 tax laws. Britain’s Parliament refused the 
 demands of the First Continental Congress and 
 declared the colonies to be in a state of mutiny.

The delegates of the Continental Congress urged colonists in Massachusetts to gather weapons and stop all trade with Britain. The Continental Congress started to train soldiers, known as militiamen or minutemen, for the fight
 ahead. American colonists were preparing to fight for independence from a country that many no
longer believed or trusted.

Do You Know?
 Patriot soldiers were nicknamed “minutemen”
 because they could get their clothes on, grab their guns,
 and be out the door in a minute.
 British soldiers were nicknamed “redcoats“ because
 their uniform coats were red.

The War Begins
 In Boston, General Thomas Gage, the
 commander of the British troops, 
 became alarmed when he heard reports 
 of colonists’ weapons stored at 
 Concord, about 20 miles west of Boston. 
 He sent British soldiers to take 
 control of the weapons on the night 
 of April 18, 1775. Gage also planned 
 to arrest the leaders of the rebellion,
 Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were
 in Lexington, a town not far from Concord.

A Patriot doctor, Samuel Prescott, found out
 about Gage’s plans and warned the militia that
 the British were coming. On the way to Concord,
 the British soldiers encountered a group of 70
 militiamen, waiting for them on the village green
 in Lexington. The British soldiers tried to walk
 past the militiamen, but an unordered shot rang
 out. No one is sure which side fired the first shot,
 but that shot started the Revolutionary War. It
 would become known as “the shot heard ‘round
 the world.” In the fighting that followed, eight
 militiamen died and ten were wounded. The
 British continued on to Concord.

The Truth About Paul Revere’s Ride
 Bostonian Paul Revere is famous for warning the troops at Lexington and Concord that the British were coming— but that’s a tall tale. It is true that he sent a spy to watch the British soldiers. The spy was to signal which direction the British were marching by hanging one lantern or two lanterns in a church tower. If the British soldiers traveled by land, one lantern would be hung. If they were to cross the Charles River, two lanterns would be hung. Revere saw two lanterns in the church tower that night. Revere traveled by horseback with William Dawes from Boston toward Concord to warn of
 the advancing British soldiers. Samuel Prescott 
 joined the two men. British officers stopped Revere 
 and Dawes; but Prescott escaped, and he was the one
 who carried the warning to the militiamen.

The British destroyed some supplies in
 Concord, but the Americans had hidden most
 of their weapons. Patriot leaders Hancock and
 Adams escaped arrest. Militiamen arrived at
 Concord in large numbers. They attacked the
 exhausted British soldiers at Concord’s North
 Bridge, and continued the attack the next day as
 the British soldiers began to march back to Boston.
 The soldiers were retreating from the fight. The
 militiamen hid behind trees and stone walls to fire
 upon the lines of British soldiers. The professional
 British soldiers were humiliated by their defeat at
 the hands of a ragtag group of quickly trained
 colonists. At Lexington and Concord, 273 British
 soldiers and 93 militiamen died.
 The Revolutionary War had begun.

Seeds of Revolution

Written by Kate Follett 
Illustrated by Chris Baldwin

Even though Chris and Amanda spent a lot
of time together, they never talked. Amanda
didn’t mind this much. In her opinion, people
talked too much. That went for the girls at school, 
commercials on television, and even Mom
sometimes, though that wasn’t a nice thing to
think. She suspected that Chris thought people 
talked too much, too, which was why they let 
the silence lie when they were alone together.

“Amanda! Get your shoes on. We need to go
shopping,” Mom yelled from the back door. 
“Haaw . . .” Amanda groaned. She was lying
in the grass, staring straight up at the treetops
and imagining she was floating on her back
in her very own swimming pool. Chris sat
in a lawn chair near her, watching the football
game on the little black-and-white TV with the
rabbit ears and the twist-dial channel changer. 
Kansas City was losing but coming back strong, 
and Amanda didn’t want to leave with ten
minutes still on the clock.

“Did you hear me?”
Mom shouted again, 
her voice coming
through the windows 
along with the jingle
of her keys. 
“I hate shopping,”
Amanda said. 
“You’ll hate starting
school in worn-out
clothes even more,” 
Mom chimed back.
“I like my clothes. I’m just going to wear out 
the new ones anyway,” Amanda said.

Amanda felt a nudge on her leg. Chris had
tapped her with his sneaker. He nodded toward
the house, letting her know that she should stop
arguing and go with Mom. Amanda sighed, got
up, and headed inside. 
“I’ll let you know,” Chris said, meaning the
score of the game. When he did talk, it was like
that— short and direct, without a single extra
word. She thought to herself that when she got
home, it would be like that again. He’d say, 
“Twenty-one, fourteen,” without introducing
it or explaining what he meant. But she’d get it.

In the car, Mom nervously sipped her iced tea. 
Then she started talking. 
“What’s up, baby doll? How’ve you been?” 
she asked. Amanda wasn’t sure how to answer. 
She saw Mom after work every day. Was there
anything new she should report? “How’s your
summer going?” Mom pressed.

“It’s going okay.” 
“Are you disappointed that you couldn’t
go to camp?” 
“No.” Amanda had gone to Lake Pines
Summer Camp for the past two summers, but
Mom couldn’t afford to send her this year after
she and Chris paid for their wedding. Amanda
didn’t mind at all. For the past two years, her
counselor had told her that the woodworking
class she wanted to take was “just for boys.” 
“Mom, is there something you need to
tell me?”

Mom sighed. “I don’t know, honey. Things
don’t seem to be going as I imagined.” She
paused. Amanda knew that unlike Chris, Mom
would always go on to explain what she meant, 
even if Amanda had already guessed. “I mean
with Chris,” Mom said.
“I like Chris. I like having him around,”
Amanda said. 
“Well, I do, too, honey, but just being around 
isn’t enough sometimes,” Mom said. “You
haven’t talked about this with him, have you? 
No, you guys don’t talk about anything,” she
said, answering her own question.

“No. We don’t really need to talk,” Amanda
said. 
The car stopped at a light, and Mom took a
deep breath in and out. “Well, I need someone
to talk to. Another grownup. And Chris just . . .
well . . .” Mom trailed off. Amanda felt bad about 
having thought that her mother talked too much. 
“Are you getting a divorce?” Amanda asked. 
Amanda was very familiar with divorce. Mom
and Dad had gotten one when Amanda was
barely three years old—so young that she didn’t
even remember.

Then there was Mom’s
boyfriend, Chuck, with his blonde mustache
and all his action figures. He was fun, and even
though he and Mom were never married, it still
hurt like a divorce when he left. Even Gram and
Gramps were divorced, though they lived in the
same building and still shouted at each other
from their porches the way they had when they
were married. 
Mom started to sniff a bit, and she didn’t
answer. They pulled into a space in the MegaMart
parking lot, and Mom reapplied her makeup in
the rearview mirror before they got out and went
inside the store. They shopped for hours before heading back home.

“We lost,” was all Chris said when Amanda
and Mom got home. Their shopping bags were
filled with new, itchy clothes. As usual, Mom had
tried to get Amanda to try on the pink shirts with
all the ribbons and ruffles, but Amanda insisted
on plain colors— red, blue, and green, and
nothing girly. Amanda was going to ask what the
score was, but if they’d lost, it really didn’t matter
much. Across the street, she saw her neighbor
Cameron on a big pile of dirt, planting a stick into
the top like a flagpole on a mountain.

“Going out to play,” she shouted as she ran
to join Cameron. The dirt pile had been left there 
when the town dug holes for new telephone
poles, and the work crews had never come back
to take it away. 
“Where were you?” Cameron asked.
“School shopping,” Amanda said.
“Did you get any cool stuff?” Cameron asked. 
“My mom said I could save my paper-route
money and get a graphing calculator.”
“No, just clothes.”

“Hmm.” Cameron started absentmindedly 
smacking the dirt pile with his stick. Amanda had
had big plans for the dirt pile. She’d wanted to
make a fort by hollowing out the inside and
building a long, low window facing the street. 
Then she was going to plant junglelike plants all
over the top to camouflage it. But Cameron never
put up much of an effort, and he tore down half
of what they’d done each time she went to Dad’s
for a weekend. 
“You’ll be going to Hogan Elementary, right? 
Now that your mom and Chris are married, you’ll
definitely be staying here and not going to your
dad’s for the school year, right?”

“Who knows how long they’re going to be
married,” Amanda said. She dug some loose
dirt out of what had almost been the entrance 
to their fort, and started to reshape it. 
“Are you serious?” Cameron asked. 
“That’s what Mom said. She said that it wasn’t 
as she imagined, and when I asked if they were
getting divorced, she didn’t say anything.”

Beside her, Cameron began carving out a long
channel down the side of the pile. “Hey, don’t be
mad at me when I say this,” he said. He wiped his
mouth with the back of his hand. “I never really
liked Chris all that much. Chuck was more fun.
Remember when he got all those bottle rockets for
the Fourth of July?”
“I guess he was
sort of more fun,”
Amanda said. “But
Chris and I are more
alike. We understand
each other.” 
“He seems kind of
grumpy sometimes,”
said Cameron. 
“Well, I do, too,”
said Amanda, now
feeling kind of
grumpy at Cameron. 
She didn’t really hang
out with him at
school—just during summers, when they were
the only kids in the neighborhood.
“I’m going to get an ice pop,” Amanda said,
without even bothering to offer Cameron one.

“Finished your fort?” Chris asked when she
stepped inside the house. He had the big TV
taken apart all over the living room floor. It had
been like that for a week now, but Amanda found
that she liked watching Chris fix the TV almost
as much as she had liked watching TV. 
Amanda kneeled down next to the
disassembled screen. “No. It never gets
anywhere. It keeps changing shape.” 
Chris pointed at the big TV tube.
“Radioactive,” he said. “Can’t put it in the trash.”
“Dangerous?”
she asked. 
“Not unless
it’s broken. You
need help?”
She knew he
was talking about
the fort.
“Sure.”
“Let’s go,”
Chris said. And
out they went.

Cameron was creating some kind of
battlefield in his yard. He looked up and watched
them pass but didn’t act as if he wanted to join. 
Chris and Amanda worked on the fort all that
day. By nightfall, the mound of dirt had changed
shape again. From one side, it looked like a pile of
dirt, but from another side, you could see a wall 
starting to form--and a room. Chris was packing
the dirt wall down solid, so it wouldn’t shift
around. They worked on it every day. Chris
didn’t really talk about what he was doing. It was
as if he knew just what she wanted. He found
some old boards in the garage and built a skinny
frame. By Friday, there was a long, narrow spy
window looking out over the neighborhood.

Saturday morning, Amanda asked Mom if
they could go to the plant store and buy some 
ferns and vines to plant all over the fort as
camouflauge.
“Absolutely not,” she said. 
“But, Mom—”
“First of all,” Mom began, and Amanda rested
her weight back on her heels in preparation for
the lecture, “that dirt belongs to the city crew, 
not to us. Second, it’s not even in our yard. 
Third, plants are expensive, and we can’t afford
to buy them as toys. Fourth, they’re just going
to come along with bulldozers and smash the
thing anyway.”

“But the pile’s been there for almost a year! 
Our fort’s almost done—it’s the coolest thing.”
Amanda said. 
“Don’t interrupt me. You’ve spent every day
out there in the dirt, ruining the clothes we
bought for school.” 
Amanda stuck out her bottom lip. “We were
making something. You didn’t even look at it.
Chris may not talk a lot, but he sure knows me
better than you do.”

As soon as Amanda said it, she waited for 
Mom to be furious and start yelling at her. 
But instead, Mom’s mouth just opened a little, 
and she stared at Amanda with huge eyes. She
didn’t even cry.
“Go to your room,” Mom said. Her voice
sounded flat.

Amanda almost never cried, and she tried
not to now, but there was already mud on her
pillow— her tears had picked up dirt from her
cheeks. She heard Mom moving pots around,
getting ready to start dinner. She knew that
Mom’s mouth would be moving silently as she
worked, as it always did when she was upset. 
Talking, talking, always talking. Every time
Amanda thought about what she had said
to Mom, she couldn’t figure out whether she
was sorry or whether she had just been telling
the truth.

She heard Chris go around the side of the
house, turn on the hose, and rinse the dirt off his
hands. That was another way that Amanda and
Chris were different from Mom, but like each
other. Amanda and Chris were always getting
dirty doing things like working on the car, fixing
the water heater, or putting in a new back step. 
Mom was always complaining about dirty hands.

After the hose stopped, Chris’s footsteps went
around the house and inside. 
“Where’d she go?” he asked.
“Who?” Mom said. There was another thing—
Amanda and Chris always had to explain to Mom
what they meant, but they always understood
each other. Mom was always explaining things
to them even after they got it.
“Amanda,” Chris said.

Mom’s voice got quiet, and Amanda couldn’t
hear what she said. They spoke back and forth for
a moment, and then Chris’s footsteps went down
the hall to their bedroom. Amanda didn’t hear
anything but kitchen sounds for a while, so she
figured that no one was going to come and talk
to her after all. But then she heard the doorknob
turn, and Chris came in.
Chris didn’t say hello or start asking her 
if she wanted to talk, as Mom always did. 
Amanda even found herself wondering why she
couldn’t just stay with Chris if he and Mom did
get a divorce. He sat down in the chair by her
bed. She didn’t roll over to face him, and he
didn’t speak for a long time.

“You hurt your mom when you said that,”
he said. Amanda felt her tears start running down
her cheeks again. She wiped them away, not
wanting to get more dirt on her covers. 
“She doesn’t understand me,” she said, 
whispering so that Chris wouldn’t know she
was crying. “She didn’t even look at our fort.” 
“She knows what’s best for you, and she loves
you,” Chris said.
“Then why can’t she—”

“Sometimes people have a hard time talking
to each other,” Chris said. Amanda had to think
about that for a minute. She knew it was true—
she and Mom often did have a hard time talking
to each other. She thought it was awfully strange
that Mom, who talked so much, would find it
difficult to talk to anyone. 
Suddenly Amanda began to understand
something about Mom: maybe talking was her
way of trying to figure things out. Whenever
Mom was giving her a talk or asking her too
many questions, she really just wanted to
understand.Amanda had never thought that 
she was particularly hard to understand, but
then again, maybe she was. She never really
told Mom much of anything.

“I guess you understand Mom pretty well, 
don’t you?” she asked Chris. 
“I haven’t been too great about it lately,” he
said. “She needs to get some feedback once in
a while. And you need to apologize. Families
have to work at staying together.” 
Amanda didn’t nod or say anything. She knew
Chris would realize that he had made his point. 
After a short time, he got up and left the room, 
closing the door behind him. Amanda sat up,
blew her nose, and got ready to clean herself up
to talk to Mom.

“Three pickup trucks, five cars, a telephone
van, two dogs, and a snapping turtle,” Cameron
said, reading from a sheet of paper. “Those are all
the things that passed by the fort window today, 
and not one of them knew I was behind here. This
place is great! Where have you been?” he asked. 
Amanda had just arrived, and found Cameron. 
“Mom and I went to get our nails done,” 
Amanda said. “And we bought vines at the plant
store.” 
“Really—where are they? Can we plant them? 
Or don’t you want to mess up your pretty nails?”

“No, it’s not that. I made a deal with my mom. 
She’s bringing the vines and the hose for us. I said
I’d go and have a ‘salon day’ with her if she came
outside and helped us plant the camouflage on
the fort this afternoon.”
“No way! 
Suddenly, water showered on them from
somewhere. They looked up to see Mom
dragging the dripping hose across the road. She
aimed the sprayer right at them. “You two had
better run!” she yelled, laughing. Cameron and
Amanda took off, screaming with muddy delight.

Talking to Each Other

Written by David L. Dreier 
Illustrated by John Kastner

The Clearing of the Forest 
It was the Moon of the Falling Leaves in the
year that white people called 1835. Here in western
Quebec, one could feel the approach of winter. 
With the setting of the sun, the air grew cold. It
would not be long before the first snow arrived. 
Along the Ottawa River, the Algonquin people
were making preparations for the winter. Soon
they would leave their villages. For several
months, they would live in small bands and try
to survive the harsh winter in eastern Canada. 
But the time to depart had not yet come. The
Ottawa River Valley was still painted with the
bright colors of autumn.

The valley was beautiful, but not as beautiful
as it had been. Large sections of forest were
disappearing. In one part of the valley on this
autumn evening, a group of loggers was heading
back to their camp. Behind them lay trees that had
fallen that day to their axes and saws. 
On the other side of the river, the several dozen
birchbark wigwams of an Algonquin village
huddled close together. Two figures stood by the
edge of the village, gazing silently at the far side
of the river. They wrapped blankets around
themselves to ward off the cold. The taller figure

was an old man named Eagle Feather. The other
was his great-grandson, Sagastao. 
At length, the old man spoke. “How can
people need so many trees?” he asked. “No matter
how many they cut down, it’s never enough. 
I remember when this valley had more trees than
you could count in your lifetime.”
The boy made no reply. Who could say why
anyone would need so many trees? 
“Come,” said Eagle Feather, “let’s go back to
the fire. And I will tell you about our people when
the valley and the forest belonged to us alone.”

Long, Long Ago 
Eagle Feather and Sagastao sat on logs next
to a small fire in the center of the village. The boy
threw some dry branches on the fire, and the fire
blazed with new life.
The flames revealed the long, gray strands of
Eagle Feather’s hair and the deep lines in his face. 
Sagastao sat quietly, waiting for his greatgrandfather
to speak. All the daylight was now
gone from the sky. The stars sparkled brightly.

Eagle Feather took a deep breath. Then he
spoke. “I have seen eighty winters,” he said. “So
I can tell you many things that I have seen myself. 
But the beginnings of our people were long before
I was born, as was our first meeting with the white
men. I will tell you both what I have seen and
what I have been told.”

Creation Myths 
Throughout history, people have told myths to
explain where they and other human beings came from. 
These myths often include a creator or more than one
creator, like the Algonquins’ Glooskap and Malsum,
whose actions make the world. Creation myths often
reflect the beliefs of a cultural group and highlight
important moral lessons for its people.

Sagastao waited quietly for Eagle Feather to
begin his story. The old man stared into the fire.
“All the people of the world came from Great
Mother Earth,” Eagle Feather said at last. “This
was long, long ago. Great Mother Earth had two
sons. One of the sons, Glooskap, was good, wise,
and creative. The other, Malsum, was evil, selfish,
and destructive. 
“When Great Mother Earth died, Glooskap
used parts of her body to create human beings
and useful plants and animals. Malsum used
other parts of her body to make poisonous plants
and snakes. 
“The humans created by Glooskap populated all
the world. Our people and the other native peoples
were given this part of the world to live in.”

The Algonquin Way of Life 
Eagle Feather leaned toward the fire. 
“When I was a boy,” he related, “the elders said
that our people had originally lived far to the east. 
They came here in about the year that the white
men call 1400. They were probably forced out of
their homeland by the Iroqu.” 
Sagastao smiled at hearing this traditional name 
for their long time enemies. It meant Rattlesnakes. 
The French traders had adopted the name and
added a French ending, making it Iroquois. It was a
group name that included the hated Mohawks and
several other tribes.

“Great-Grandfather,” said Sagastao, “did our 
people develop the life we know here in the valley, 
or did they just bring the old ways with them?” 
“Who can say? They probably continued some
of the old ways and invented new ones. Every
place is different and requires some new ways. 
But the way of life that you know is very old.” 
For a long time, the old man talked, relating the
ways of the Algonquins. Sagastao knew all these
things. But he also knew that his people’s way of
life was threatened. There was no end to the white
men who were coming to the valley. The boy

realized that his great-grandfather wanted him 
to memorize every bit of Algonquin life. If their
way of life disappeared, at least it would live on
in memory. 
There were so many things to remember about the
way they lived, the way they dressed, and the way they
celebrated, Sagastao thought. This village had once
been home to three hundred people. Now there were
scarcely more than a hundred. Could there really come
a time when this would all be gone?

Sagastao looked around him as his greatgrandfather 
continued to relate the ways of the
Algonquins. He admired the birchbark and animal-skin
wigwams that had been constructed with such
care. He looked with pride at the birchbark canoes 
down at the water’s edge. Their people had long
been famed for the quality of their canoes.

Constructing a Birchbark Canoe 
A birchbark canoe was built by first making a wood
frame and staking it to the ground. The frame was used to
hold pieces of the canoe together as construction progressed. 
The builders formed the upper edges and ribs of the canoe 
with pieces of wood that had been softened with steam. 
Once the skeleton of the canoe was completed, the women
of the village applied strips of birchbark— bark from birch
trees—to the outside of it. They stitched the pieces of bark
together and sealed all the edges with sticky sap from pine
trees. Birchbark canoes were easily damaged and were
repaired frequently.

Sagastao put his hand beneath his blanket and
felt the softness of his deerskin clothing. For all
the ten years of his life, his mother had taken good
care of him. When she wasn’t out hunting for nuts
and berries, she often washed deerskins brought
back by the men of the family. With the skins, she
fashioned clothing and moccasins. 
Once when he was sick, his mother had dressed
him in clothes of pure white deerskin. The village
shaman said white deerskin would chase away 
the evil spirits that were making him ill. Indeed,
he soon got well.

The shaman was an important man. The
Algonquins believed that he healed them when
they were sick and that he communicated with the
spirit world. The
highest being of the
spirit world was the
Great Spirit, who
looked over them
and controlled the
elements. But the
Earth, they believed,
was also filled with
many lesser spirits. 
Some were good,
others evil.

Sagastao pulled his blanket tight around him.
Even with the fire, he felt cold. He thought ahead
to the winter months. In his mind, he could see the
men putting on snowshoes to go hunting for deer
and moose, or cutting holes in the ice on the river
to spear fish. 
There was food to be had in the winter, but
life was hard. The winters in Quebec were long
and very cold. People sometimes couldn’t find
enough to eat, and they starved to death. Sagastao
hoped that the coming winter would not bring
too much hardship. 
The boy’s mind was wandering. He realized
that he had missed some of his great-grandfather’s
words. But now he paid attention. His greatgrandfather
was talking about war with the
Iroquois.

A Bitter Struggle 
Smoke wreathed about Eagle Feather’s head as 
he related his people’s long war with the Iroquois. 
“This was before the coming of the white men, 
in the time they called the 1500s,” he said. “At that
time, some tribes of Iroqu were living near here
along the Big River.” 
“The Saint Lawrence,” Sagastao said. 
Eagle Feather nodded. He didn’t like calling
things by the names the white men had given
them. “The Iroqu clashed often with our people. 
They were strong, but we were stronger. Our brave
warriors defeated them in many fights.”

Eagle Feather told of how the Algonquins
subdued their longtime enemies and cleared them
from the area, and of how they forced the defeated
Iroquois to pay annual tribute of furs and other
valuable items. 
“It was a good time to be an Algonquin,” said
Eagle Feather with a smile. “The people were very
proud.” 
“But then, everything changed,” Eagle Feather
said, his smile vanishing. “The Iroqu formed a
mighty federation.”

Sagastao had heard this story many times
around tribal fires, and it always gave him a pain
in his heart. How the Mohawks and several other
Rattlesnake tribes joined together to become the
strongest nation in the northlands, so strong that
the Algonquins could no longer stand up to them. 
After the founding of the federation, the
Mohawks were even more feared and hated. 
The Algonquins were afraid to take their canoes
 onto the Saint Lawrence River, which became a
Mohawk stronghold. The Algonquins had gone
from triumph to humiliation. But they vowed to
restore their former power. Beginning in 1603,
they saw their opportunity.

The Coming of the French 
Sagastao tossed a few more branches onto the
fire. The flames leapt higher and gave off some
welcome heat. Eagle Feather had fallen silent for
a few moments. 
“You said 1603, Great-Grandfather?” Sometimes
Sagastao had to prompt the old man into getting
on with a story.
Eagle Feather resumed: “Yes, 1603, as the whites
called it. Everything began to change that year. 
It was when our people met the first Frenchmen. 
They established a settlement on the Big River to
trade for furs.”

A Confusion of Names 
The French began applying the name “Algonquin” to
the people of the Ottawa River Valley in the early 1600s. 
The origin of the name is uncertain. The Algonquins called
themselves the Anishnabek, which means “Original People.” 
The name Algonquin—pronounced al-GAHN-kin or al-
GAHN-KWIN (and also spelled Algonkin)—causes much
confusion. Anthropologists call the Algonquin language 
and dozens of other related Native American languages 
“Algonquian” (al-GAHN-kee-uhn or al-GAHN-kwee-uhn). 
Many people think Algonquin and Algonquian mean the
same thing and that the Algonquins lived throughout much
of North America. But that is not so. Algonquins lived mostly
in eastern Canada in the Ottawa River Valley.

The leader of that group, Eagle Feather related, 
was the famous explorer and fur trader Samuel
de Champlain (sham-PLANE). Champlain was
impressed with the animal furs that the Algonquins
brought to trade for steel knives, hatchets, and
other valued goods. Furs were in great demand 
in Europe for the making of hats and coats.

In 1608, Champlain moved his trading post 
farther up the Saint Lawrence River. That made it
easier for the Algonquins to get to his post without
being attacked by the Mohawks. Champlain
wanted the Algonquins to be his friends and the
allies of France. The Algonquins were willing, but
they wanted something in return: help in their
ongoing war with the “Mohawk Rattlesnakes.” 
Champlain agreed to assist them. In 1609, he and
several other Frenchmen joined an Algonquin
attack on the Mohawks. The French firearms
shattered the Mohawk ranks and killed two chiefs.

A Time of Troubles 
Things were once again looking more hopeful
for the Algonquins. With their new weapons,
including an increasing number of guns, the
Algonquins had the Mohawks on the run. They
and an allied tribe controlled the fur trade on the
Saint Lawrence River for the next twenty years. 
“The coming of the French was a great benefit
to us,” said Eagle Feather, as he stared at the
fire’s embers as if to coax more warmth from the
burning wood. 
“Yes, a great benefit,” Eagle Feather said, 
picking up the thread of his story. “But only for
a while. Because the Iroqu found another source
of steel weapons and guns. They got them from
Dutch traders.

“This was the beginning of a very bad time for
our people. The French tried to limit the number
of guns they traded to our people, but the Dutch
gave the Iroqu as many muskets as they wanted.” 
Eagle Feather told of the misfortunes that
followed— how the Mohawks pushed the
Algonquins out of the Saint Lawrence River area,
this time for good; how the Mohawks destroyed
the Algonquins’ most faithful allies, the Hurons;
and how the French, determined to protect their

fur trade, signed treaties with the Iroquois
federation. 
Adding to all these troubles were epidemics
of disease transmitted to the native peoples by the
European settlers. Beginning in 1634, smallpox,
measles, and other illnesses ravaged many tribes. 
Within ten years, the Algonquin population, which
had once numbered at least 6,000, was reduced to
about 1,000. 
“We were never again a great power,” said
Eagle Feather.

Allied With the British 
The fire was dying down. Sagastao threw more
branches onto the flames, and once more he could
feel a surge of welcome warmth. It was now late
at night, and the cold was deepening. Across the
river, the logging camp was dark and silent. From
far away in the forest came the howl of a wolf. 
Sagastao turned to Eagle Feather. “Are we now
getting to the things you’ve seen with your own
eyes, Great-Grandfather?”
Eagle Feather nodded as his thoughts turned
to the events of the late 1700s. 
“I was born in the year that the white men call
1755. It was a time when the French were fighting
the British to see who would rule Canada.

The French and Indian War 
From the late 1600s to the mid-1700s, the British and
French fought four wars for the control of North America.
The wars began as a fight to control the fur trade. But they
developed into a struggle for possession of vast stretches of
territory. During each war, both sides used Native American
allies. The last and biggest of the conflicts was the French
and Indian War (1754–1763). The war ended in defeat for
the French. France was forced to give Great Britain much of
its land in North America, including almost all of Canada.

“The French and the British used many native
warriors in their fights. The tribes had to choose
one side or the other or stay out of the fight. The
French had been unreliable allies. So we signed a
treaty with the British agreeing not to make war
against them. 
“Later, in the big war that the British fought
against their own kind— the Revolutionary War—
we fought on their side. I was in a battle in the
Mohawk Valley. I got shot in the leg by a musket
ball.” 
Eagle Feather rubbed the thigh of his right leg 
as he thought about receiving that wound, now
so long ago.

Losing the Land 
“We were good friends to the British,” Eagle
Feather said. “Some years after the Revolutionary
War, the British went to war with the American
nation. It was called the War of 1812. Again in
that war, we were British allies. By then, I was
beyond my warrior days, but many of our braves
fought alongside the British soldiers.” 
A note of bitterness came into the old man’s
voice. “We thought we would be rewarded for
our help to the British, and they said we would
be. They promised that we would keep all of our
lands. But for years now, settlers have been taking 
our land and pushing us into smaller areas.”

Eagle Feather gestured toward the river. “Now
we have all these men coming here and cutting
down the trees. Well, you can see what lies ahead
for our people.” 
“Maybe things will get better,” Sagastao said,
without much conviction. 
He considered all his great-grandfather had
said as he looked across the river at the logging
camp, the cold seeping deeply into his bones
despite the flames of the fire.

The old man rose from the log. “Come,” he
said. “It’s time for you to sleep.” 
Sagastao rose to his feet. He and Eagle Feather
walked together to the warmth of the wigwam.

Afterword 
Beginning in
1850, the British
government began 
establishing
reserves for the
Native Americans
in Canada. Ten
reserves were
created for the
Algonquins, but the
total land area was
just a tiny fraction of the Algonquins’ ancestral lands. 
The reserve system was maintained by the
Canadian government after 1931, the year in which
Canada became independent of Great Britain. The
tribes in the reserves are known as First Nations.

Each Algonquin reserve is considered Algonquin
land and is under tribal control. About 8,000
Algonquins live in Canada today. Many live in the
reserves and maintain their tribal traditions. But some
choose not to live in the reserves. All Native Americans
in Canada are Canadian citizens and can live
wherever they want. 
Wherever they choose to make their home, the
Algonquin people now all live in modern houses and
apartments and get their food at stores. The old ways
are for ceremonies and other special occasions.

The Algonquins

Written by Penny Atcheson
 and Elizabeth Fox

Let Me Introduce Myself
 The ocean, where I live, is an enormous buffet table for everything 
 in it and for many land animals, including humans. When you think of
 the ocean food web, you might think of fierce
 great white sharks devouring their prey, or
 enormous blue whales gulping tons of krill. Or
 you might think of giant stands of seaweed being
 devoured by everyone, like an underwater salad
 bar. But did you know that more than 90 percent
 of all sea creatures end up being eaten by other
 sea creatures? That means that almost every
 organism in the ocean ends up getting eaten by
 another sea creature at some point or other. And
 almost every sea creature eats other sea creatures.

But there is one little organism that almost always gets eaten but does not actually eat anything itself. It is the most microscopic species
 in the ocean, yet it forms the center of the ocean’s food web. Some people might think it’s a raw deal to 
 be food for everybody else without getting 
 to eat anybody in return, but I find it to 
 be quite a powerful job. Let me back up and 
 introduce myself properly. Phytoplankton 
 (FY-tow-plank-ton) is my name.I’m an algae,
 which is almost like a very tiny
 plant. But unlike plants, I have no roots, 
 so I’m not attached to the ground or sea floor. 
 I’m free to float around with the ocean currents. 
 I prefer to remain near the surface of the sea, since I’mquite 
 fond of sunlight, and I can be found in every ocean on Earth.

江家小朋友的学习园地